Everyone obviously has a plan
by aheroandavillain
Summary: Set after Puppeteer 2.0. 'It would have been a ridiculous first kiss,' she said with a soft smile on her lips. But still she couldn't stop thinking that now may be the right time to stop living in dreams and start living for real. In a world where Adrien loves someone else.


'It would have been a ridiculous first kiss,' she said with a soft smile on her lips. But still she couldn't stop thinking that now may be the right time to stop living in dreams and start living for real. In a world where Adrien loves someone else.

That night she didn't sleep well. And of course that she overslept in the morning, which caused her running late to school.

The only positive thing was she didn't have to try to keep up with anyone's conversations. Didn't have to pretend she was ok, that nothing had happened.

The day passed by, even though she wasn't able to look Adrien in the face. Alya knew something was wrong with her best friend, but she had no idea what could have caused such mood. Did something happen yesterday at the museum?

After school, she decided to try to coax Marinette into telling her, however as soon as the last class of the day ended and the bell rang, Marinette quickly took her things and basically ran out of the room.

She couldn't handle being in the same room as him. Not so soon after what he said.

When she got home, she went straight to her room. She climbed to her bed , laid down, eyes filled with tears. She closed them for a while, tears ran across her cheeks and sobs wrecked her body. Tikki helplessly watched her chosen, every time she opened her mouth to say words of comfort, she just couldn't find the right ones. Nothing seemed right at the moment. The only thing she could do at the moment was watch out for Hawkmoth's akumas, hoping that even after all Marinette was still strong enough to resist him.

When Marinette opened her eyes, she saw Adrien's pictures and she made a decision. No more foolish dreams, no more future plans of three kids and a hamster, not with Adrien. He was in love with some other girl. Tikki said that life might surprise her one day, but that day wasn't today. Today she decided to take matters into her own hands and take an action. Move forward. And she will start by taking down the pictures and the detailed schedule of all his activities that she kept.

Adrien knew something was wrong with Marinette as soon as she stepped into the classroom. She didn't meet his eyes and she seemed really upset. Was it something he did yesterday? Did his prank really affect her so much? Was he such a terrible friend to cause one of the most important people in his life so much sadness? He wanted to talk to her as soon as he could, maybe he would find out what was bothering her and if he really was the cause of her hunched shoulders and averting gaze. Who was he trying to fool - of course he was the cause.

Ever since the unfortunate wax statue prank she seemed uneasy. He was an idiot. He hurt her. But he will fix it. He won't lose their friendship for a stupid prank. He will make anything possible to make Marinette smile again. Whatever the cost.

When the last bell rang, he turned around to speak to Marinette, but she bolted right out of her seat before he had any chance to utter a word. That ruled out his way to solve the problem.

'Dude, what happened to Marinette? She ran out of here as if an akuma was chasing her,' Nino turned to his girlfriend.

'I don't know what is wrong with her. During lunch she left as soon as she could and when she came back she barely said a word to me,' Alya replied concerned.

'I think it is something I have said or done yesterday.' Adrien said sadly.

'What happened?' Alya asked.

Adrien told them about their talk in the studio, how Marinette ran out, how he tried to pull a prank on her by pretending to be a statue, how it didn't really work out and the ride home.

'I think I know what may have upset her. I will go to see her, hopefully she will talk to me.' Alya said.

'So it was something I did?' Adrien asked, feeling all the more guilty.

'I-I don't know for sure, that's why I need to speak to Mari before we make any conclusions.'

'Please tell her that I'm sorry and that I will try to make it up to her in any way possible, whatever she says.'

'I will.' Alya took her bag and left for the small bakery just a few minutes away from school, hoping to cheer up her best friend.

Adrien watched the Ladyblogger leave and his own plan was already forming inside his head. If she doesn't speak to Adrien, maybe she will speak to Chat Noir. He still remembered the talk they had on her balcony, whe he had prepared a romantic date for Ladybug, but she didn't show up. Instead he went to Marinette's, each of them spoke about their heartbreak and in the end he brought her to the roof decorated with roses and lit with candles. She even admitted to being in love with him, so maybe she might be more open towards him than she would be towards Adrien.

Now he had a plan.

Marinette first took down the pictures next to her bed. Then she continued with the walls of her room. Just as she was about to take down the schedule, the trapdoor to her room opened to reveal her best friend.

'Hey, Marinette, your mom sent me up, hope you don't mind,' Alya said.

'Oh, hi, no, it's okay. Did something happen?' Marinette asked curiously.

'You're asking me? Hello? You are the one who came to school today like the perfect candidate for the next akuma. Even Adrien 'Oblivious' Agreste noticed. He thought it was due to some prank he pulled on you yesterday. About which I haven't heard. So spill... What happened yesterday when we left you two alone?'

Marinette's gaze fell to the floor, then she looked at her best friend and told her everything that happened. Alya listened intently and reacted just the right way - facepalmed when Mari ruined a perfect opportunity to confess and instead ran to the toilet, cringed while listening to Mari's faux pas with the fake Adrien statue, hugged Marinette after finding out that Adrien is in love with another girl.

'Did he say who is she?

'No. And I couldn't bring myself to ask him directly. But I have thought about it and I have decided - I won't pursue the impossible. I will be just his friend,' Marinette said resolutely. 'My fantasies were just that, fantasies.'

'Girl, are you sure? I mean, you have been trying to confess for such a long time, and now you're just gonna give up?'

'Alya, until recently I haven't even been able to speak to him coherently. And with all the secret plans and operations that always ended up as a disaster and with me embarassing myself even more than usually, I think it's time for me to face the truth. Right now he is in love with someone who obviously isn't me. I'm done with pining after Adrien Agreste. At least for a while.' Marinette smiled sadly.

'You even took down his pictures. It's almost hard to believe.'

'I thought that I might as well start now.'

'That's great, Mari, I support you. Even though I should probably tell you that Adrien feels very sorry about whatever happened yesterday and that quote unquote he would do anything to make it up to you.'

'Oh my god, he is so nice. And I'm such an idiot. But no, I need to get over this, I will be fine, WE will be fine.'

'Whatever you say, girl, I'm right behind you, either to push you or to catch you if you fall.'

'Thanks, Alya. For everything.'

'What are besties for?' Alya winked at her and hugged her again. 'Are you sure you will be ok?'

'Yes, I'll be fine.'

'So, what are you going to do with-' Alya's voice was interrupted by a loud sound, followed by a soft knocking. 'What is that?'

'I-I-I don't know. M-maybe a stray cat? O-or a b-bird.' Marinette was trying to come up with a plausible explanation, even though she had an idea, what might have caused it and it was definitely a stray cat.

Knock-knock-knock.

'I'm pretty sure that cats or birds don't knock. Mari, is there something I should know?'

By this time Marinette's face could have matched Ladybug's suit.

'Who is there?' Alya asked loudly, phone in hand, just in case. Slowly she approached the small trapdoor leading to the balcony. Suddenly she gasped loudly, looking at one and only Chat Noir. Knocking at her best friend's bedroom window.

'Mari? Care to explain why is Paris' superhero on your balcony?'

'Ehm, well, you see... he... uhm... well...' Marinette stammered on the verge of a small panic attack. Why did that darn cat decide to visit her right now? Doesn't he have anything better to do? Like annoying someone else?

Alya opened the small window to let Chat in, only for him to realize his horrible mistake. His escape attempt however was stopped by Alya pulling on his tail, which resulted in him falling inside Mari's room. Marinette could just speechlessly watch her best friend manhandle the boy. If it weren't for her role in the current situation, she might even laugh at the whole scene.

As it was Chat was trying to salvage his pride by getting to his feet fairly quickly, but his reputation was beyond repair at this moment. He was lucky enough that Alya didn't have her phone camera on. He could already see her posting the pictures and video on her blog with some hashtag like cat-astrophy or cat fail.

'Ok, would someone please explain what is going on here? Why is Chat here? Wait. Mari, is he the reason why you decided to give up on Adrien?' Alya asked incedulously.

'What? No. I mean- No!' Marinette tried to come up with a coherent sentence, but she failed miserably.

'What can you say in your defence, cat boy?' Alya turned to Chat. 'Why did you come here, of all places in Paris? Any particular reason?'

'I-I-I was on a patrol close by, aaand decided to stop by to visit my princess in her tower,' Chat recovered.

'Your princess?'

'Chat, you're not helping,' Marinette muttered annoyed.

'Marinette has helped me and Ladybug several times in the akuma fights, so I stop by from time to time. Is there anything bad about it?'

'No, but I think my alleged best friend has a lot of explaining to do. And I'm still waiting, girl.' She turned to Marinette again. 'Does he have anything to do with you taking down all of pretty boy's pictures?'

'I-I'm sorry, but I think I should leave. I am obviously interrupting...' Chat started.

'Yes, you should-' Mari started and at the same time Alya said: 'Don't you dare.'

Chat felt terrified at this point, not knowing where to look, what to do or what to say. How could he get out of this? Why didn't he just once listen to Plagg telling him to wait a little longer before going to the bakery? Just why? And now he had to suffer consequences of his choice, namely two girls - one looking at him as if she was planning to make him suffer, in a very bloody way, and another that was firing questions at him at a lightning speed.

He was doomed. He looked helplessly from one girl to the other, trying to come up with any solution that wouldn't involve physical pain on his side. No such luck.

And still he couldn't miss the mentions of his name and pictures, that Marinette said were on her walls because of her interest in fashion. But what did then Alya mean 'give up on him'? He was obviously missing a point here. A very important one.

'So, Marinette? Is the kitty-kat the reason why sunshine boy is out of the picture?'

'No, he isn't.' Marinette shook her head. 'I told you my reasons and I didn't lie.'

'Ok, girl. I believe you. I should go now, I have to babysit the twins. But you are not getting away from me, I expect all the details. And an exclusive interview on your relationship with Paris' cat superhero. Bye, see you tomorrow at school.' Alya waved at the two of them.

As soon as the trapdoor closed behind her, Marinette looked at Chat mortified and enraged at the same time. 'What are you doing here?'

'Well, as I said, I was nearby and I thought I would stop by to see how are you doing. In hindsight it might not have been such a great idea.' Chat answered sheepishly.

'Now she thinks we are... we have... we...'

'Are dating?' Chat offered.

'Yes.' Marinette hissed.

'But we aren't, so what is the problem?' he asked.

'The problem is, that Alya tends to come to her own conclusions, sometimes without verifying her facts, just like now. And it is going to be very complicated to convince her of the truth. As if my life wasn't complicated enough.' She sighed and sat on her chaise lounge.

'I'm sorry for causing you problems, princess. I offer my sincere apawlogies.'

'Ugh, not that again,' Marinette groaned.

'Why? Don't you find me amewsing?' His flirty nature came back full force. He flashed her a smirk.

'And what did I hear about you giving up on the Agreste boy? Were you two a couple?'

'That is none of your business, kitty. You know what they say about curiosity and the cat.'

'Come on, Mari, I'm your friend. What happened? You seem a little bit off.'

'You know that I had a crush on this boy for a long time, now you even know his name. Well, apparently, he is in love with someone else. And I found out only after I embarassed myself in front of him and was finally about to confess. So I have thought about it and I have decided to stop pursuing him. We will be just friends and I have to accept that. So that is what I'm going to do.' She smiled at him sadly.

To say he was shocked would be an understatement of the century. He couldn't believe his ears. Marinette had a crush on him. Actually, on both of him. She had already confessed her feelings to him as Chat and now she said she wanted to confess to Adrien. What was he supposed to say? How should he act?

'Oh, Mari, I'm so sorry. I... Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?'

A lonely tear escaped her eye, but she quickly wiped it away. 'Could you just please help me take down his schedule?'

'His what?!' Did she really have something like that?

Marinette went to her table and showed him. His jaw fell to the floor. He has never seen anything so elaborte before. How does she know so much about his life? Who is this girl?

'Ehm... well... that is rather... unexpected and... detailed...' He looked at all of his activities written down in a calendar. There was a lot of them. How did she even know about all of them?

'Yes,' Marinette blushed, 'uhm, you see... I may have went a little bit overboard with this crush thing...'

Chat's face visibly reddened. 'You could say that.'

'Can we please just take it down and never speak about it again? Ever?'

'Yes, that might be a good idea.'

He stood up and helped her take the last evidence of her (obsession) crush down.

'So,' he started, trying to seem casual, 'are you going to be okay?'

'Yes, I just have to come to terms with my decision, but I think it's the right one, at least for now. He doesn't see me that way, so I'll just be his friend and support him whenever he needs it.'

He smiled at her, knowing that he couldn't wish for a better friend than Marinette. How did he even deserve her? He was now, more than ever, determined to make her smile and laugh. But maybe he should leave out any pranks for a while.

'I'm sure he will appreciate that. You truly are amazing, Marinette. You are like an everyday Ladybug. Brave and smart and so kind to others.' He smiled at her softly.

She froze at hearing so familiar words. 'What did you just call me?'

'... everyday... Ladybug...?'

There was a question hanging in the air. A slow realization, followed by widened eyes, and yet another panic attack.

'Mari?'

'You... him... you... how... oh my god... how could I be so blind? Oh my god, oh my god, ohmygod...' All of her interactions with Chat, with Adrien, every moment when Adrien was around and Chat was nowhere to be found, when Chat was there and Adrien was absent. It all made sense now. Then another realization hit her. 'Oh my god! I kissed Adrien Agreste. Several times.' Marinette rambled on and on.

'You what?!' Chat looked just as shocked now.

She looked at him, as if she saw him for the first time, as if she just now realized he was in the room with her. She opened her mouth, but there were no more words coming out.

Adrien was terrified. What did he just say? What did she just say? Something he said must have done this to her. What is so wrong with calling her everyday Ladybug... only... SHIT! He realized his mistake. Ladybug was going to hang him by his tail from the Eiffel Tower. He would bet his miraculous on that. How could he salvage this? Was there any way to salvation at this point? Maybe if he tried to pretend that it was nothing, maybe just a coincidence...

'Is there something wrong?' He tried to act nonchalantly... and failed miserably when his voice broke at the end of sentence.

'How could I be so blind? I... we... Tikki...'

'Tikki?' Who is Tikki? Where did he hear that name before? ... Oh... Oh, no... Ladybug... Marinette? No, Marinette knows Ladybug in her civil life, that's why she knows the name of her kwami. But...

'Marinette, inhale... exhale... slowly... breathe in... and out...' Third voice belonging to a small red and black creature sounded.

At that moment Chat got into the same state as Marinette. The conclusion he came to hit him like a truck. How was this possible? Could he really be so blind? Could she really have been so close to him all this time?

'M'lady?'

She looked at him with wide eyes, really seeing him. 'Adrien?'

'Oh my god! I-I-I...' Words abandoned him. His brain left him there, standing, not being able to form any sentence, word, sound. How did this happen?

Finally, she broke the silence. 'We weren't supposed to know.'

'Marinette, it was not your fault. Eventually the identities are always revealed. Even though usually it's much later on.' Tikki tried to calm her chosen.

'But what about Hawkmoth? If he finds out...'

'Then we make sure we beat him first.' Chat said. 'We are a team, Bugaboo. No matter what, we always help each other and find each other. Obviously, even out of suit.' He grinned. 'Pound it?' He offered his fist.

Marinette looked at him hesitantly. He was waiting patiently, smiling softly at her. She couldn't help herself and smiled back at him. 'Pound it.'

'So... I hear you have a teeny tiny little crush on a certain boy.' Chat started with a teasing smile.

'Stop it. I told you never to speak of it again.'

'Or should I say a major obsession with him?' He couldn't hold back anymore. 'Why didn't you tell me?' His face became serious again.

'I... I was afraid. Everytime I tried to approach you, to talk to you, I would become a complete mess, stuttering, clumsy mess. How could I even want to be with someone so... perfect. Even though, now that I know you are such a dork...'

'Hey! No need to be rude!' Chat crossed his arms.

'Now that I know, who you really are, I think I might reevaluate my previous decision.' She looked at him shyly.

'That would be wise, my princess. Knowing what I know now, it would be most beneficial.' He stepped closer, his fingertips slowly brushing her hand. 'I'm sorry that I didn't see you sooner.'

'Better now than never.' Marinette smiled at him and slowly closed the distance between them.

His arm tenderly encircled her waist, pulling her closer towards him.

It might have lasted a second, a minute or a century. Time didn't matter anymore.

'Uhm, Chat, Adrien, could you please detransform? I think Plagg might want to gloat about this for a while.' Tikki interrupted their bliss.

'Oh, yes, sure. Sorry. Claws in.' A small black cat-like creature flew out of the ring and instead of Chat Noir Adrien Agreste was standing in her bedroom. Adrien Agreste. In her bedroom. Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir.

'Oh my god!' Marinette exhaled again. 'What am I going to tell Alya?'

'Don't worry, I'm sure that between four of us we can come up with a plan.'


End file.
